Entries in newbie
(21)

GinaMarie remains mean-spirited and disturbing. But she won HOH again on Thursday evening ... and if she puts Amanda and McCrae on the block, GinaMarie will have earned some respect back from me.

Amanda certainly wasted no time trying to fill GM's head with final four promises, lies of her certainty that Judd had been MVP, and her fervent desire for Elissa and Judd to be nominated for eviction.

Thursday, August 29, 2013, 8:57 PM: Mark this time, #BB15 fans! Is it genuinely the beginning of the end of McCranda?

My personal hope was for anybody who isn't McCrae or Amanda to win HOH, but I was probably wishing for GM be least likely to get the room key. Would she be strong enough to make one of the biggest moves of the season, or would she fear retaliation?

On the other hand, they've done the math: There are only so many weeks left, and during their conversation GM and Amanda talked about how two people are likely to leave next week. (They're right: Julie told viewers #BB15's second double-eviction happens next Thursday night.) Does the coming double affect GM's game play for the week?

GM ... Did you really do it? Did you successfully play Amanda? Does she really believe you're gonna do what she wants you to?

For the moment, it looks like she did! The moment she left the room, GM started silently taunting Amanda. And minutes later, GM talked with Andy about nominating McCranda.

We'll see exactly how impressionable GM lets herself be as everybody kisses her ring on Friday ... and then whether she has the guts to go through with nominating Amanda and McCrae later Friday. The other house guests seem to want it.

So now I'm rooting for somebody I don't like at all. That too is part of the game.

Will GM do it? Can Amanda win POV again to save herself? And then who's gonna be the double evictee next week? Let our games begin in the comments or @uselesstraffic.

McCrae is off the block, Andy is the replacement nominee, Aaryn is still up, and I am surprisingly not entirely disappointed with how this week is going.

When Amanda got into the POV comp and won, she was obviously going to save McCrae ... and it also became impossible for Elissa to backdoor her. And there went all the fun out of my #BB15 week ... or so I thought.

But watching Amanda squirm over her lack of control of Elissa has been kind of fun. Watching Amanda campaign in one room to save Aaryn while McCrae campaigned in a different room to vote her out was delicious! And Amanda wanted GinaMarie put up as the replacement ... so the fact that Elissa chose Andy instead is downright exhilarating.

Admittedly, I like it more because it's not what Amanda wanted than because I want to see Andy go before GM. On the other hand, Andy's duplicitous game style is annoying ... even though he seems like he'd be a likable person in the real world. As a newbie, I haven't quite reconciled that it should be acceptable for me to cheer for deceit -- it's just a game.

Monday, August 26, 2:48p on cams 1 & 2: Andy and Aaryn admitted privately to each other that Elissa played them expertly.Three votes are all they need to evict someone this week.

Earlier in the day today (Monday), it seemed likely that Judd and Spencer would evict Aaryn ... while Amanda and possibly McCrae (put firmly back in his place, one assumes) would evict Andy. GinaMarie might have been the swing vote.

But by late afternoon, with her "save me" tactics not working, Aaryn seemed to know she's going. If that becomes a foregone conclusion (like Helen this time last week), which is more likely this Thursday?

- We get a 5-0 vote to evict Aaryn, providing cover for everybody ("I'm just doing what the house wants!") and dullness for fans.

- We get a 3-2 or 4-1 vote to evict Aaryn, with the dissenting votes from, say, McCranda or just McCrae. I might like to see how this would play out -- especially if one or both of them chose to lie about their votes to each other and/or to other house guests. Imagine McCrae saying, "Amanda, you know I'll always vote with you" when he didn't ... or Amanda saying that GinaMarie or Judd (take your pick) "was the only one who didn't do what the house wanted" when in fact they did.

That's what I woke up this morning thinking about. #BB15 events had finally led to a scenario which helped this newbie better understand the concept of the "backdoor." Indy Mike helped me learn it in generic terms:

Elissa holds court in the HOH room.- Head of Household nominates two people for eviction.

- In the Power of Veto competition, players consist of the HOH, the two nominees, and three additional randomly-drawn house guests. (Sometimes one of the chips drawn says "house guest's choice," so one player is slightly less random.)

- Earlier in the #BB15 season when the MVP picked a third nominee, the POV players consisted of the HOH, the three nominees, and two additional randomly-drawn house guests.

- If the HOH wins POV, she or he might save one of the original nominees -- so that s/he can nominate somebody different, who would then have no opportunity to compete to pull her/himself off the block before the eviction vote. This new nominee (who, by the way, would be labelled on our Ticker graphic at right as "Nominated via POV"), if evicted, would be considered to have been "backdoored."

- If one of the nominees wins POV, s/he virtually always saves her/himself ... so whomever picked the saved nominee (HOH or, earlier in the season, MVP) picks a new nominee. This new nominee, if evicted, is considered to have been "backdoored."

Power of Veto.- If a non-nominee wins POV, s/he gets to choose to pull somebody off the block. And then ... yup ... a new nominee goes up. If the new nominee is evicted, is s/he also considered to have been backdoored?

- The POV winner may choose not to use his/her veto, leaving the original eviction nominees in place. (Andy did that last week.)

As the day started this morning, the situation was this: Elissa is HOH, Aaryn and McCrae are on the block, and the POV competition was coming up. Elissa was Helen's strongest ally and she's no fan of Amanda. I haven't myself been much of an Elissa fan (I certainly had nothing good to say about her in my last post), but there was reason to think Elissa had been scheming to backdoor Amanda. And this, to me, was indeed good news.

Oh, noooo! See what Amanda's wearing today?What I didn't realize until reading Ash's "Night Owl" post this morning is that the house guests selected to be the additional POV players today were Judd, GinaMarie, and ... Amanda. Uh oh!

Here's another thing newbie viewers need to learn: An unnominated house guest who wins POV also wins immunity for the week. She or he can't be nominated.

You get one guess who won POV early Saturday afternoon. So much for the perfect backdoor! It was exactly the right time for somebody who had previously won nothing to win a comp.

My dream scenario for this next week is ruined. Since my favorite house guest (Helen) was evicted, I was hoping to see Amanda go next -- thus eliminating the two most powerful players in consecutive weeks and necessitating an entirely new power structure to be formed in #BB15's remaining weeks. That would have been absolutely delicious to watch.

Let the next speculations begin. Current thinking is that Elissa will put up Andy, Spencer, or GinaMarie. Who do you think is most likely? Amanda will save McCrae, obviously. Will Aaryn go to jury or the new nominee? Comment below or hit me up @uselesstraffic.

Knowing they're potential replacement nominees, Andy and Spencer try to get on Elissa's good side.

Here's why I should still label all my posts as "from the Newbie Desk." I knew there was one concept about backdooring which I wasn't getting right. BigBrotherGossip.com reader "Richard" commented on this morning's "Night Owl" post from Ash with the relevant detail:

"For it to be a back door you can't have played in the veto comp. So if Amanda goes this week she just goes as the replacement nom not a back door."

Exactly right. So since Amanda got to play in the POV competition, my "perfect backdoor" scenario couldn't have happened this week. Amanda could have been nominated if she hadn't won veto, but it wouldn't have been a "backdoor." Andy and Spencer are the only house guests this week who were neither nominated nor played in the POV comp; if either is nominated and then evicted, I guess he will have been backdoored -- sort of, since neither was seemingly the one Elissa originally wanted? (Thanks, Richard.)

I wanted to promote BigBrotherGossip.com reader "Ben"'s comment (which is actually below) up here to an "update" on this post, as it provides more great insight for newbies about what a "backdoor" is:

"The other thing about a true backdoor is that it must be planned from the start. If someone on the block wins veto and is replaced by someone who didn't compete for POV, that's not a backdoor, unless that replacement nominee was the target from the outset. That's just bad luck." (Thanks, Ben.)

HelenThose here who like me, if anybody does, won't like me at all after reading this: I have been, and proudly remain, a loyal member of #TeamHelen.

Helen is the only house guest who hasn't annoyed me with confrontational mannerisms and deceit.

Don't misunderstand ... I'm not at all saying that she hasn't been confrontational and deceitful. As does every game player, she absolutely has employed her share of each. It just didn't annoy me.

Unlike, say, Amanda. Who has won nothing yet controls everything. Who has nothing kind to say about anybody. Who treats even her allies with disdain.

Unlike GinaMarie. Who is quite possibly the most mean-spirited non-fictional character I've ever seen on television. Geez, did you hear what she said to Candice the very last second that unfortunate woman was in the house? That was the moment when I was simply done with GM.

Amanda, you'll go eventually. Won't miss ya. GinaMarie? Sorry, I'll miss you even less than Amanda.Unlike Aaryn. Who was seemingly hated by all house guests (and viewers) for weeks yet survived it. Who has become, whether via actual skill or blind luck, one of the strongest players in the house ... yet who has resolutely and dutifully wasted the many opportunities given to her. Who has dreamt out loud in the Diary Room about big moves but who did only what others dictated.

Unlike McCrae. Who lives in the shadow of an autarch without realizing he can't win unless she goes first.

I will do what I want as HOH. I will do what I want as HOH. I will -- d'oh!! (Aaryn channels Homer Simpson.)Unlike Andy. Who lies and floats and lies and floats, feigning loyalty throughout. Who, except during his HOH week, purposely avoids success during every competition.

Unlike Candice. Who deserved none of the disgusting comments thrown at her by ignorant bullies but who literally slept through her eviction week, totally refusing to compete.

Unlike Elissa. Who is there only to shill for Elissa Slater Enterprises Company Incorporated, apparently under license and permission from CBS, if rumors about her higher stipend and special considerations are true.

And, at least a little, unlike Spencer. Who seems to survive not by being likable but by being less dislikable than others.

Helen's & Elissa's alliance is inherently less powerful than McCrae's & Amanda's. Showmance trumps friendship. Would Amanda have been as powerful without McCrae?Resigned to her fate, Helen packs.Helen has played the game enthusiastically, unapologetically, and, especially this week, constantly. She talked with everybody, trying to shape events and to prolong her time. Her strategy worked for many weeks, effectively sharing power with Amanda. You might not enjoy Helen's ceaseless talking and/or the ways she manipulated (or attempted to manipulate) people, but can't we agree that Helen is way more of a game player than many others in #BB15 are or have been?

Who makes you feel like this more often, Spencer? Amanda or Helen?Yes, I'm still new to all of this ... and, yes, she's been my favorite since I started watching. But as I've learned more about this game, my respect for Helen has grown.

I have no expectation that this will convince anybody to join me on #TeamHelen. Also, despite lots of speculation, to me it feels quite unlikely that Helen will win the jury comp to bounce right back into the house tonight.

Even so, even if you don't like her, wouldn't that be delicious to watch? After endless weeks of unanimous, predictable, boring eviction votes pre-arranged not by the HOH but by Amanda and, somewhat less directly, Helen, I would love to watch the following turn of events:

- Helen wins the jury competition and comes right back in.

- Elissa or Helen wins HOH.

- The HOH nominates, say, GinaMarie and Andy, with the intent to backdoor Amanda. Or Amanda and McCrae, for the sheer theatrics of it.

Helen dreams of a miracle. With Helen or Elissa as HOH, how hard would it be to convince Aaryn, GinaMarie, and Spencer that they'd last longer with Amanda gone -- and be happier, too? For the second week in a row, only a three-vote majority would be needed to make it happen.

Only three votes!

On the other hand, this newbie has learned that Amanda's nastiness, while universally acknowledged by the house guests, apparently has no bearing on their strategies.

I haven't yet learned why.

"Unfortunately, this is how it ends. Unless a miracle happens," Helen said (at 6:46 PM last night, August 21, on camera 4). And she's right.

I hold one hope for #BB15 redemption: If Amanda goes the week after Helen, it'll be a whole new show.

When Helen goes, I'll be sad ... but Ash and Scott will be delighted. And for the record, I will enjoy reading their snarkiness about the entire episode in their next posts, as I have in their last ones. Don't take anything we write here too seriously, folks! We're glad you're reading, even when you might not be agreeing. What's your miracle scenario? Share it below or tweet me @uselesstraffic.